Translating Passion Into Purpose: Creating a Billion-Dollar Business | Liz Elting

Liz Elting (0:01)

Yes, of course, you're inclined to do what you think you should do. But if you can find a way to do something you love and make a career out of it, go do it, take the risk, try it because you will be so much happier.

Michael Gervais (0:14)

Okay, welcome back or welcome to the Finding Mastery podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Michael Gervais. I'm your host, Dr. Michael Gervais. And I'm your host, Dr. Michael Gervais. And today, I'm going to introduce you to a very famous and very successful psychologist, Liz Elting.

Now, I want you to pause for just a moment and imagine the possibilities if you were to take radical and relentless action towards your biggest dream.

Working through fear, grinning in the face of uncertainty, that's what she did. That's what she's continuing to do.

Her story is epic. It's an epic testament to what can happen when vision and imagination and action align. Liz's dreams had humble beginnings in her NYU dorm room in 1992 when she co-founded a company called TransPerfect, and she did it from scratch. TransPerfect has since grown into the world's largest language translation and business solutions provider with over 1.1 billion in revenue and operations in more than 100 cities worldwide, and Liz's impact goes well beyond business. She's the founder and CEO of the Elizabeth Elting Foundation. She's a best-selling author, a linguophile, a philanthropist, and a mother. Her new book, Dream Big and Win, is a great read for anyone who is pioneering their own path to purpose-led success. It offers practical wisdom on not just how to dream big, but also how to win in both business and in life. Now, in today's conversation, Liz and I delve deep into how to take radical action in pursuit of your dreams. The definition of modern leadership and how adversity can fuel extraordinary growth will also explore balancing self-discipline with self-compassion. How to cultivate enduring passion and purpose no matter life circumstances. So with that, let's jump right into this week's conversation with the unstoppable Liz Elting.

Liz, I'm so stoked to have you on. I've been looking forward to this conversation to learn from you, to learn from a pioneer like you. But before we jump right into it, like, how are you?

Liz Elting (2:34)

I'm doing great. Thank you, Mike. I'm so stoked to be here. Thank you so incredibly much for having me.

How are you doing?

Michael Gervais (2:42)

Yeah. I just, I felt like I was on the shelf for the last five days. I caught a bug. I caught something. And it was, it was not COVID. It was, I don't, I was on my back for the last handful of days. And I haven't been sick for like, I don't know, three, four, five years. Like it's been a long time. I forgot how long.

So I'm just on the tail end of it. You might hear it in my voice, but that's where I've been the last five days.

Liz Elting (3:08)

Oh, I'm so sorry.

You're also on the bookshelf. Congratulations on your book.

Michael Gervais (3:17)

I know. Like I'm so happy to talk about your book and, and your incredible adventure of life. And so how has the book tour been for you?

Liz Elting (3:29)

The book tour has been fantastic. Thank you so much for asking. I've loved every minute of it. I've loved meeting the amazing people when I go to the events and I speak and then I hear their questions and I really think, and then I learn from them and the other speakers. The whole experience has been fantastic along with the podcast, which I've done where I've met amazing, brilliant authors, podcasters, people like you. So thank you for asking. It's been fabulous. Fabulous.

Michael Gervais (4:00)

Very cool. All right. So I have your journey from starting TransPerfect in a dorm room with your boyfriend basically to becoming the world's largest provider of language and business solutions, $1 billion in revenue per year.

What an amazing adventure. And so before we get into how you built the business and how you navigated that, I do want to start with two questions. So growing up, did your family, your community, did you see yourself as a sure thing or more of an underdog?

Liz Elting (4:42)

Well, that's a wonderful question.

And I would say I am a, I was a complete underdog, complete underdog. And that's why, you know, I love that question.

You know, one of the great sayings is, and when you're interviewing people, the best indicator of future behavior is past performance or something like that. And I think performance-wise, I think I was good, you know, I think I had my strengths, I was good at things. But as far as confidence, as far as feeling like I was going to go and lead and win, I don't think that was a sure thing at all. So I guess that saying that I just kind of referenced is true. I mean, I think I performed well, I had my strengths, but I was by no means a sure thing. Not at all. And I had plenty of moments where I felt like the underdog and I was the underdog.